Edy's Double Chocolate Chunk

You get the idea. I’ve been doing so well for roughly 3 days, too. THREE WHOLE DAYS. I suppose it was bound to happen, eventually, that my resolve would waver and I would be overcome with a ridiculous desire to consume a whole bunch of something. Ice cream is my go-to, and I did indeed go to it after this hellish afternoon.

You see, my son has a new obsession with lying. He can be scarily convincing or just ridiculously transparent, with no real rhyme or reason. He lies to cover up things he is doing or has done, and he gets irate if someone (coughBriannacough) tells on him. Which – duh, she totally does, at every single opportunity. I’ve been seriously limiting TV time, working on our diet, spending lots of time reading to them, and otherwise just doing my best to chill them out and open up their creative brains. Lately I think the main problem is that they’ve been spending too much time inside. It’s been cold and dreary and muddy and just not the greatest conditions for hours of play outside. It’s also hard to send them outside when it’s too cold for their baby sister to go out with them, because I can’t get anything done without their help. She loves to play with them, and sits at the window watching for them, calling out “Bubba!” over and over and getting into mischief.

So anyway, Eli tried to destroy his big sister today when she was about to tell on him for secretly playing with the iPod after he claimed he wanted to be alone to read. And I fell for it, again. He asks for alone time, and my instinct is to respect that and encourage it. Then I find out he’s breaking the rules and trying to strangle his sister for spoiling the fun and I just want to scream. And eat ice cream.

If I didn’t hate puking so much, I might totally get down with some bulimia. Because I wanted that ice cream so badly that I could think of nothing else. Until I’d eaten it and then I fell into the shame spiral and wished I hadn’t eaten it, because it wasn’t worth it and I don’t feel any better and why do I suck so completely, etc etc shenanigans.

Advice for the harried homemaker? Have you dealt with a big fat liar of a child? How did you handle it? Commiserate with me or solve all my problems. Or make me feel better about the ice cream. Or tell me about something shiny. Glitter!

YAY CARBS!!!!!!

After the relatively easy 20 pounds I lost on The Paleo Diet, I gained back 10 of that (in a freakishly easy fashion) on The Complete Opposite of Paleo Diet.

I’m 30 now. I’ve birthed 3 not-tiny children, and I’m pretty consistent about being awful and lazy when it comes to getting back in shape post-partum. Yes, even though it’s 18 whole months, this still counts as post-partum. Ahem.

The biggest kick in the butt for me right now is the fact that I’m going to be Maid of Honor in one of my best friend’s wedding in April. And I already have the dress. And I bought it when I was on Paleo. Sooooo, I have to fit into it! And, you know, I’d rather not look like a wild boar up there next to a bunch of cute, skinny non-moms.

We’ve already been improving the quality of our food, mainly for the kids. Brian and I still let some things slide for ourselves (like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream – my super duper yummy weakness). I may or may not have eaten some every night. For a month. Maybe? I can’t remember for sure.

I’m pretty notorious for going all out with whatever I’m doing (when I finally get around to whatever it is), so when I decided to go “casually low carb”, I of course went overboard on Day 1. I woke up the next morning sweating (who am I kidding – I was liquifying), shaky, weak, and out of it. Whoa. Thankfully, my adorable children randomly decided to bring me breakfast in bed. This consisted of banana bread I had made a few days before (yay carbs!!) and a stroganoff-esque dish leftover from the night before poured over some biscuits (they thought the stroganoff was gravy from biscuits and gravy….). I wolfed down the much needed provisions and went back to sleep, praying that I would awake back in one piece.

I did, and after that, I chilled out a bit with the low carb and just aimed for moderation of everything. I started using an app to track my food and so far, I’m managing to stay in the range of 1600 calories a day without feeling like I’m starving. I get as much protein as I can and try not to graze too much. I’ve been guzzling water. I guess this is where nursing comes in handy – that burns an extra 300 or so calories each day! So far I’ve lost 4.5 pounds and I’m hoping that it keeps dropping. I want to get back down to my cute size before I get all pregnant and big again someday…

I can't even believe that's me, except for the small boy chewing on my leg. Dead giveaway.

Anyway, it’s a process, but I’m trying not to be too strict or all-or-nothing about it, which again, is totally my M.O. Anyone else trying to get rid of baby/winter/lazy weight? What’s working for you?

They actually mostly LIKE each other....and they are SO cute.

Next. Pizza. Because nothing is as important as pizza. Heh.

One quarter of my readers contacted me about the pizza dough recipe I posted awhile back. She tried it (I was both shocked and flattered) and was a sad panda when the dough didn’t cook through. I guess I didn’t really specify how large I make my pizzas…Whoops.

I flatten my dough out on the back of a large rectangular cookie sheet, and it pretty much touches all sides. So it’s good sized and it makes the crust just the right thickness. I made it with whole wheat flour this week, in an attempt to add more wholesome nutritious goodness to our ‘za, and it turned out ridiculously well. I had to knead it/beat it up a bit more, because the wheat flour seemed to be denser, but the finished product was a universal hit. It took 15 minutes @ 450.

Also, in that same post, I shared an “Un-Tomato” recipe. It was okay, but the beets were really pretty disturbing color-wise, and the texture wasn’t perfect. I searched around on the Feingold forums and found another un-tomato recipe, which I made tonight. It was perfection. I highly recommend it for any salicylate-sensitive (or not!) people out there. DELISH. So, here’s that recipe.

I never thought pomegranates would have anything to do with my pizza...

• 32 oz. organic carrots
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup pomegranate juice (I used this kind)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp sugar

The recipe originally called for 2-15 oz cans of carrots, but I didn’t have any. Fresh makes me happier anyway. I decided to steam them to retain as many of the nutrients as possible. I peeled the carrots, chopped them up into little rounds and steamed them. I stirred them once after 5 minutes, then cooked them for 5 minutes longer. Then I combined everything in my Cuisinart and pureed.

Then I modified it into my pizza sauce, like last time, by adding:

• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

It was outrageously yummy. I highly recommend this to everyone! Enjoy

• My skin is clear again. Paleo and Feingold have this in common: no artificial crap, and to that I’m attributing this complexion. I’ve gone back to using pure olive oil soap to wash my face and virgin coconut oil to moisturize. 1 week = clear, vibrant skin.
• Eli is much calmer. He has his moments still, and there was one hell of a meltdown, but overall, so much better. Will write in more detail later.
• I feel more focused, less anxious, less randomly irate.
• Brian’s heartburn is gone.

Stage 1 of Feingold excludes natural foods high in salicylates as well as all artificial colors, flavors, fragrance and preservatives. As stated on this website, “Salicylates are chemicals that occur naturally in many plants – they’re a kind of natural pesticide – to protect the plants against insects and diseases”. One very interesting factoid from that same page:

Research shows that about 20% of adults with asthma¹, 60% with of people with food-induced itchy rashes, headaches or migraines, 70% of people with irritable bowel symptoms² and 75% of children with behaviour problems³ may be sensitive to salicylates.

That is exactly what we are trying to sort out with our kids, and with ourselves. It stands to reason that if one or more of our children is sensitive to salicylates, Brian or I may also be sensitive.

Anyway, I don’t know what things are like in your neck of the woods, but Fridays around here are Pizza Night. I make it from scratch every week and it is super yum. However, tomatoes are a no-no in Stage 1, so I was a bit nervous about how we would be able to still make this happen. Luckily, my handy dandy Feingold packet has some recipes, one of which is an “Un-Tomato Sauce”.  Color me both skeptical and very skeptical. It’s made from beets and carrots. I’d never had a beet before tonight, but I had not heard positive things.

I’m happy to report that my concerns were unfounded. The kids loved it, Brian loved it – even I loved it, mostly! I’m going to share my little concoction here – I used the Un-Tomato Sauce recipe (with fresh, instead of canned, ingredients and slight modifications) as a base for my usual pizza sauce, which I found online at some point pre-Feingold. It’s a sweet sauce, just the way I like it, so keep that in mind.

Un-Tomato Sauce (slightly modified from Feingold Association recipe)

• 3 large beets, peeled and chunked
• 3 large carrots, peeled and chunked
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp white sugar

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, allowing to simmer until veggies are very soft.  Add more water as needed. Mash it up by hand as it cooks. Continue simmering until sauce begins to thicken (took about an hour). Let cool slightly, then puree. I had to do mine in 2 batches in the food processor. I put the first pureed batch into a large bowl, then started the second batch. To the large bowl I added my additional pizza sauce ingredients.

Pizza Sauce (slightly modified from brew.cook.pair.joy)

• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds (throw these into the food processor with the rest of the Un-Tomato Sauce to get crushed)
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

After batch 2 of the sauce is done blending, add it to the bowl and stir well. Pop it in the refrigerator until you need it.

Full disclosure: it’s kind of an electric fuschia color, which is a bit off-putting, though the kids didn’t seem to mind in the least. The sausage pizza was better than the cheese, also. I think the sausage kind of helped hide the fact that it wasn’t standard pizza sauce. With just cheese on top, the texture is just different enough to be kind of…weird.

And just to round things out, I’ll share my go-to pizza crust. I found it on allrecipes.com and it’s a keeper. Fast and easy!

Pizza Crust

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and oil. I like to use my hands for this.
3. Add the flour mixture to the yeast and mix well. I use my hands for this also. Really work it together, squeeze it between your fingers, knead slightly. It should become smooth within a couple of minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker’s peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

And that’s it! It probably seems like a lot of work, but it’s really not. And it’s so worth the results! Yum yum.

I’m happy to observe after 1 week that things are improving, slowly but surely, and we haven’t had to sacrifice. We can still eat “junk food” – just has to be the right kind. Honestly, I’ve just kept some processed food in the pantry so the kids don’t feel like this is some weird thing, Paleo 2.0 or worse. We haven’t changed what we’re eating drastically, and we’re still eating delish food. Win win, chicken din!

We have recently begun a new diet, the Feingold Diet, wherein you remove all artificial preservatives, flavorings and colors from your diet and personal care products. My main goal in this endeavor is to get Eli’s behavior to where I think it should be and where I know it could be. One day not so very long ago last week, I casually Googled the symptoms of ADHD. I was shocked to find a list that perfectly described my son (and to some extent, my oldest daughter) accompanied by a full-color photo of Eli. I realized something needs to change. Since I have no interest in medicating him for this, I immediately started searching for dietary changes that could help. (Please note: I have no interest in changing my son into a zombified version of himself. I just want the best version of him possible. Someone in control of himself – he wants this, too.)

Right at the top of the Google results was a link to the Feingold website, and I immediately began reading everything. My mom bought the materials for me and while I waited for them to arrive in the mail, I started removing obvious culprits from our home. Things containing Blue-5 or Yellow-11 in the ingredients list were the first things to go. Eli and Bri were pretty calm about all this, especially when they realized this wouldn’t be like Paleo version 2 (evil Paleo has made my kids hate eggs and bacon, no joke).

After I got the materials and took my 3 hour long, multiple-grocery-stores trip for foodstuffs, I returned home with many goodies. Natural cookies and hard candy and fresh produce and cheese and meat and cereals, all safe for this diet. They realized hey…this could be good. Cookies??

So, Day 1 wasn’t all that different, though there was a bit more calm and slightly less Non-Stop Bouncing Off of Every Available Surface. Day 2 was significantly more impressive – Eli expressed how he felt to me instead of launching a chair at a closed door and screaming out, “You’re STUPID!!!!” (Yes, when he screams this it absolutely has 4 exclamation points following it, at a minimum) I felt a glimmer of home that this could work. I was excited.

Then yesterday came. And oh my sweet lord, he was in rare form. Most of the day went swimmingly, but in the afternoon he had the meltdown to end all meltdowns and I nearly lost my mind. Screaming at me, crying, throwing himself on the floor, throwing every available object at his bedroom door (it looks like Wisconsin cheese, but not so yummy, and not so inexpensive to replace), etc. For hours. He would calm down only to start up again when he got his second, third, fourth and fifth wind. ‘Twas ridiculous. I don’t even know what prompted it. Maybe a combo of physical exertion (hiking at the park earlier) and his daddy being gone overnight for work? Maybe an unexpected reaction to something he ate? He was a wreck.

Today has been better, but wowsa, yesterday freaked me OUT. I’m hopeful that he’ll continue to improve and have fewer of the meltdowns. Either way, this is a positive change for all of us, as we are eating a lot more whole, unprocessed food – which is always good. Oh and $5/loaf bread = we start making our own this weekend. Wish me luck

Today, I left the house. With all 3 kids.

Impressed? Well, maybe you’re not, but I am. I haven’t accomplished this feat in weeks. I’ve had some serious conditional agoraphobia. The condition being that I would only leave the house alone. Is that weird?

You see, we could no longer visit the library, because after many books are late, the library ain’t so free. I have sullied my good name, tarnished my reputation and my library card, and I can’t be seen there. At least not until I take out a line of credit to pay off my late fees. That was our thing. We did the library fairly regularly. But it got to be so stressful and I was so absolutely, inexcusably negligent about returning books on time, that it would make more sense for me to permanently take up residence at Barnes and Noble than to continue going there with any regularity.

We also had the park. Ah the park, in the sunny, cheery days of summer and fall, is a wonderful place to turn the kids loose, walk on some trails, observe nature in all her glory, etc. When winter hits, Momma loses her interest in all things out-of-doors. I know this makes me suck verily, but I cannot do it. It’s so dreadful, so cold and dreary. And the bundling that is required….goodness. The baby and the layers and the car seat and the being car sick after sitting backwards in really hot clothes for awhile while driving across town. Or trying to take her out in the stroller when it’s so cold – it just seems somehow…evil.

So, we make do. We have lunch after school and then depending on the weather, we go from there. If it’s sunny and at least 20 (ish), the kids spend lots of time outside. They invent hilarious scenarios and games and I love hearing about them. They redecorate the deck. They make forts. If it’s awful out, I read to them. A lot. We’re working on Little House in the Big Woods in the afternoons and Brighty of the Grand Canyon before bed. We so enjoy our time reading together, even though the bulk of our schooling is also me reading to them.

So, life is good. I do worry about the fact that we don’t go places much. But it’s not like I’ve closeted us all in this awful dungeon of a house and we stare at each other and hate each other and plot deaths and such. No, we like each other. We like being at home. So, I guess it works for us. Homebodies. Snuggly homebodies. Love.

I made white chili and cornbread and it was delicious. I read Olivia to Fiona for the 9 millionth time and got her to bed. I read Black Beauty to Bri and Eli and we realized that we are 20 pages from the end. So excited! Then after all the children were in bed for the night, I decided that what I really needed were some homemade chocolate chip cookies. And I made some. And I’m still making them. And they. are. amazing. Life altering, some might say.

So anyway, that’s a lot of stuff. I stayed busy all day, but more importantly, I didn’t completely lose my mind. I feel productive and satisfied and full of cookies.

All this likely means that tomorrow is going to be awful, but I’m hoping that’s not the case.

Wintry...

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Bubba to the rescue!

Down again.

How do they DO that??

Making leaf-filled snow balls. Fiona is trying to keep up. Ish.

Eli is wearing my boots. I have NO idea where his are.

"What's wrong Fona?"

Awwww <3

Sissy saves the day!